Exceptional POSTMARKS, unusual STAMPS, informative BLOGS, selected POSTAL HISTORY (see Means of Delivery in Subjects), no sellotape!!
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;) | ST. LUCIA stamps: Essay in black with typographed head and surround but without outer name and duty plate frame-lines, the top tablet "ST. LUCIA" and bottom tablet "HALFPENNY" hand-painted, cut down to stamp size and affixed to small piece. Ex De La Rue Archives (1979). £750 |
;) ;) | "Revenue" overprint omitted, Reversed CA watermark, St. Vincent stamps: 1883 THREE PENCE on QV 1d lilac REVERSED CA wmk with "Revenue" overprint omitted (PML.10), fresh very lightly mounted mint. PML records this error on Page 147 of the handbook. The later 1897 issues of THREE PENCE on QV 1d mauve and red-mauve (SG.63, 63a) have never been recorded with REVERSED CA wmk. £1200 |
;) | GREAT BRITAIN (Elgin, Scotland) to VICTORIA, Australia postal history (Ex von Uexkull) 1872 cover with sender's "North Street Elgin" albino embossed flap to The Reverend William Ross, c/o Solicitors, Queen Street, Melbourne with two GB QV 3d rose Plate 7 pmk'd ELGIN "133" duplex dated E/AP 8 72, on arrival re-directed with VICTORIA QV 2d brown-lilac tied MELBOURNE 8H/MY 31 72 duplex to Mrs. Ross's Lodgings, Campbell Street, Castlemaine, b/stamped London AP 9 72, Melbourne A/MY 31 72 and Castlemaine MY 31 72. Ex Jakob von UEXKULL (1997). Few covers from Great Britain forwarded with VICTORIA QV adhesives locally or to other Australian States exist, and I can only currently record GB 1/- (DE 5 1855) forwarded Melbourne to Castlemaine with 2 x 3d; GB stampless (JA 21 1856) forwarded Melbourne to Tarrengower with 1d, 3d, 1/- REGISTERED stamp; GB 1d x 3d, 6d (AP 10 1860) forwarded to Encounter Bay, S. Australia with 6d; GB 1d, 9d (MR 19 1872) Dublin to Melbourne forwarded Minnebah Reefs, Tasmania with 3d. The only other Victoria QV 2d forwardings known to me are on cover USA 5c (DE 28 1880) Adelaide to Sydney, NSW with 2d (von Uexkull), and USA 6c rose pair (JA 19 1882) forwarded Brisbane to Sydney, NSW with 2d (Edward S. Knapp). £1200 |
;) | ST. VINCENT stamps: 1882 QV 5/- rose-red ovp'd "REVENUE" (PML.6), superb full gum with light hinge remains. £1200 |
;) ;) | Wreck of the S.S. "WALDENSIAN" en route to Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, NATAL postal history 1862 cover to Josh Smith, Risebro, Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire with QV Chalon 6d grey (SG.13) packet rate pmk'd in the first few days of October 1862, showing PAID/DEVONPORT/CAPE PACKET/28 NO 62 overstruck red London NO 29 62 and red crayon "4" credited to the UK (compared to 5d in the Cape Colony), reverse shows trace of a backstamp but detail lost with missing flap. The saved mail was taken by Union steamer "Athens" which left Cape Town on 21st October arriving Devonport 28th November 1862. The Rennie steamer "Waldensian" sailed from Durban bound Cape Town on 6th October 1862 but struck rock at Struy's Point Reef, near Cape Agulhas, at 11pm on Monday the 13th. Captain Joss, having sight of the land and knowing the area, sent the second officer with a boat to look for a landing place. After a beach was secured two boats took out the female passengers, followed by the carpenter, the boatswain, and the elderly men. A fire was lit on shore and by daylight, after several trips, all 100 souls, and the mailbags had been saved. The mailbags and most of the passengers were conveyed overland from Somerset West reaching Cape Town on Thursday, others rescued by the "Kadie" or "Albatross". The "Waldensian" broke in half about 11.30am on the 14th, and, with the cargo became the perfect wreck. Losses included costumes and instruments of the Christy Minstrels, and four years observations on the trigonometrical survey of the colony with passenger Captain Bailey. £1500 |
;) | CONSIGNEE ENTIRE landed GRAVESEND SHIP LETTER, St. Vincent postal history 1910 cover marked "Consignee" and "p. S.S. St. Croix" to William Burr, Broad Street House, London with 1d re-drawn Arms (SG.99) tied purple str. line "THE EAST-ASIATIC COMPANY" handstamp with both GRAVESEND/SHIP-LETTER and GRAVESEND 2 AM/MY 18 10 arrival cds alongside address panel, reverse London E.C. 10.15AM MAY 18 10 arrival. The East Asiatic Company was founded in 1897 in Copenhagen by Hans Niel Andersen, initially to operate shipping services between Copenhagen, Bangkok and the Far East. In 1907 the "St. Croix" was sold to the Hamburg America Line. £750 |
;) ;) | 6 used Bothwell, TASMANIA postal history 1867 cover to James Gill, Solicitor, Stone Buildings, Hobart with Van Diemens Land QV 1d dull vermilion strip of four wmk'd double-lined "1" (SG.28) tied both numeral "6" and BOTHWELL 6 JU 1867 broken dbl-arc showing red PRE-PAID 7 JUL 1867 Hobart arrival, adhesives cut into, no backstamps, very small part of flap missing showing portion colourless embossed "J. WALCH & SONS HOBART TOWN and LAUNCESTON", envelope maker and stamp printer. £750 |
;) ;) | CONSIGNEE'S LETTER into DUNEDIN, New Zealand postal history 1868 initially stampless entire (no indication of sender's origin) travelling with goods marked "Consignee's Letter per Margaret" destined for a merchant in Otahuhu, Auckland put into the Post Office at first port of call Dunedin with pair, single QV Chalon 1d dull vermilion added (affixed over writing) pmk'd Dunedin D/NZ/SP 25 68 duplex paying the 3d inter-provincial rate, b/stamped Auckland OC 7 transit and with OTAHUHU OCT 8 68 (13 days journey) on address panel, missing part flap. Extremely rare with Chalon stamps added. The letter, having been put into the Dunedin post office (South Island), would travel by land to the recipient advising details of goods to be expected, and the "Margaret" would continue its sea journey to the most convenient port in North Island for off-loading of same. £1625 |
;) ;) | THE UNIQUE "HALF OPEN BOOTHEEL DUPLEX" CDS COVER, BARBADOS Postal history (See BLOGS section) 1875 local cover to T.P. Goring, above "Rices", St. Philip with last and last recorded use 1872 (1d) blue (SG.52) tied 19mm BARBADOS I/JU 28 75 cds at Bridgetown with alongside previously unseen 21mm BARBADOS JU 28 75 code A cds which has now been shown to be part of the newly introduced cobbled together open bootheel duplex which took up duty 12 days later on JY 10 1875, no backstamps. £2400 |
;) | FIRST SAILING with NEWLY INTRODUCED BOOTHEEL DUPLEX, Barbados postal history (See BLOGS section) 1875 full contents entire with blue LOUIS & Co. buckled double oval sender's cachet marked "Via United States" to Messrs de Grinchy Renouf Clement Co., Burgeo, Newfoundland with 1d deep blue and (4d) dull rose-red (SG.66, 49) tied newly cobbled together BARBADOS open bootheel duplex dated A/JY 11 75 rated red "4" with circled black "5" due, backstamped New York and St. Johns AU 12 1875 transits. £750 |
;) | The SG uncatalogued 1866 QV 1/- in bluish slate (SG.8 variety), ST. VINCENT stamps: A very fine exceedingly rare fresh mounted mint example of this unlisted stamp with printer's guide-line lower right corner, together with a fine used example with crisp horiz. brown "A10" (PML.3), plus a mint pair of the QV 1/- indigo (SG.13) for comparison. The QV 1/- indigo (SG.13) was invoiced FE 27 1869 and the known covers spanning period AP 24 69 to OC 10 70 all fall within the use of the VERTICAL "A10" used period SP 25 68 to JU 10 72. Use of the horizontal "A10" on 1/- indigo is therefore an impossible contemporary combination. The St. Vincent PML handbook Page 34 acknowledges that the August 1866 QV 1/- Perforation B 11-13 exist in both the listed slate-grey (SG.8, Cat.£2500 mint) and also in a "bluish-shade" and initially surmised that at least two sheets perforated B slate-grey were mixed among the 500 plus sheets of the consignment. BWISC member Dr. Bruce Aitken has suggested that as this stamp was printed alongside the QV 4d deep blue (SG.6) the printers may have realised they were a few sheets short and made a special printing that came out a bit bluish in order to fill the order. Brown ink was used in the last 3 months of 1867, and used examples of this bluish slate variety were offered in the Jaffe collection. £3500 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | CONFEDERATE sloop-of war transfers YANKEE P.O.W.s to DANISH brig, St. Croix postal history 1863 letter written April 13 by semi-literate Dudley K. Dow to his "mothere" Mrs Thomas Dow, Deer Isle, Maine, USA stating that he had been taken by the Felardy (his hearing/understanding for the Florida) and "Cent in to Cante Croix", his postscript in ink confirms that his stay on the island has been dull "the times hire is dool" but mentions "we shell leave here to day For home", posted in small envelope, slightly trimmed at left, with handstruck SHIP and "5" (due) in black and landed with red BOSTON/MY 6/MASS d/ring. On March 12th 1863 the Danish brig “Christian” took into St. Croix prisoners recently transferred from the Confederate States Steamer (C.S.S.) “Florida”. The “Florida” was a sloop-of-war serving as a highly successful commerce raider in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. She was built in Liverpool and departed England 22 March 1862, and after a collision with a United States Army Transport troop ferry sank on 28 November 1864. The Florida captured 37 prizes during her short impressive career. Two books cover this event: “The Life and Services of John Newland Maffitt” (captain of the C.S.S. Florida). On Page 283 of the journal is mention of capturing the bark M. J. Colcord from New York bound Cape Town on 30 March 1863, and their transfer to the Danish brig Christian some 37 hours later on 1 April 1863. “The High Seas Confederate” book, Page 83, confirms that Maffitt captured “a propaganda” ship, the M.J. Colcord on 30 March 1863, transferring provisions from the prize, that the master of a Danish brig agreed to take all the remaining prisoners, and that Maffitt burned the M.J. Colcord. £6500 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | An exceptional entire to ST. VINCENT during the 1810-11 FALMOUTH MUTINY 1810-11 entire written Horse Guards and Golden Square, London with copy of 12 November 1810 (sailing from both Plymouth and Falmouth), copy of 28 November 1810 (sailing from Plymouth), and original dated 13 February 1811 (on FIRST SAILING Leewards Island resumed service packet from Falmouth) to Major General L.S. Order, Commanding, St. Vincents rated 2/- unpaid. Military content respecting the discharge of Private Thomas Booth of the 1st Battalion 90th Regiment. As a consequence of the OC 24 1810 Mutiny at Falmouth, Cornwall (see Britnor P.93, Robertson E.86) the Falmouth packets were transferred to the Hamoaze at Plymouth, Devon on NO 6 1810 where a temporary office was set up by Post Office Agent Saverland and staff at the Fountain Inn until the packets at Plymouth were transferred back FE 4 1811 arriving Falmouth FE 15 1811. The NO 12 1810 copied letter was sent from PLYMOUTH by "Express" Jamaica packet on NO 23 but owing to 'bad weather' the sailing was interrupted and the packet put back to FALMOUTH on NO 20 and finally sailed NO 27 arriving Barbados DE 28, the NO 28 1820 copied letter was sent by "Francis Freeling" Leeward Islands packet from PLYMOUTH DE 1 to 3 (sailing dates vary) arriving Barbados DE 28, the FE 13 1811 original was sent on FE 16 by the "Duke of Kent" Leeward Islands packet from FALMOUTH (being the first resumed service packet to the West Indies). £525 |
;) | SOUTHERN RHODESIA to BERMUDA postal history 1942 cover to T.A. Stokes, Princess Hotel, Hamilton, Bermuda with 6 x KG6 ½d pmk'd SALISBURY 29 JAN 42 d/rings, outgoing triangular censor and forged CM21 PASSED BY CENSOR/47/BERMUDA also in red, no backstamps. £80 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | "V" day, Meikles shop celebrates with "a dummy of Hitler in a real coffin", Rhodesia postal history 1945 use of 3d Victoria Falls ACTIVE SERVICE AIR LETTER headed "V" day!!! Tuesday 8th May pmk'd GWELO 8 MAY 45 to F/Lt E. Thompson, No.2. E.V.T. Instructors School, R.A.F. Middle East from his very worried and loving wife with salutation "My own adorable little Welsh Husband" with contents including "listening to London last night when we heard the news flash - it seems almost too good to be true" and "we shall listen to Mr. Churchill at 3, and again to the King at 9 o'clock". There is mention of "Gwelo looking "quite gay" with flags flying everywhere", and that Meikles Window for "V" day is lined with black crepe and they have "obtained a real "coffin" in which they have placed a dummy of Hitler". An exceptional end of war item for the KG6 collector; a Waterfalls thematic collector; and a sensational item for anyone exhibiting Postal Stationery. VE Day stands for Victory in Europe Day which took place on Tuesday May 8, 1945, VE Day was the day on which the allied forces announced the surrender of Germany in Europe. It marked the end of Adolf Hitler's war and sparked celebrations around the world. The day before at 2.41pm on May 7, 1945 Germany had surrendered. This special Active service Letter Card was for use by servicemen, and civilian use was forbidden and any such usage resulted in surcharge. £925 |
;) ;) | GREAT BRITAIN to INDIA postal history combination 1864 cover marked "via Marseilles and Bombay" to Charles Norman Pochin (1826-1870, East India Company Official), Madras c/o forwarders Arbuthnot & Co with GB QV 1d, 4d, 6d tied Bath "53" duplex dated I/NO 3 64, on arrival India QV 2a yellow added tied both ARBUTHNOT & Co company handstamp and MADRAS "1" duplex dated DE 6 for re-direction to Chiglepett, b/stamped red CHIGLEPUT DE 6 dbl-arc arrival clear of missing side flap. £425 |
;) ;) | INCORRECT VICTORIAN GRAMMAR on PREPARATION PROOF SHEET with UNISSUED VERTICAL LINED PAPER 1866 QV 1d pale rose INLAND REVENUE on UNISSUED vertical laid paper stamps, a generally fine and fresh IMPERFORATE complete sheet of twelve stamps showing the two units of six stamps laid down and aligned for printing purposes (unlike BADLY ALIGNED Sheet 256) within the full marginal inscriptions including One Penny Each - One Shilling per Sheet. at base (changed on issued sheets) on gummed paper sheet numbered 258 at top left. Some slight creasing. Note: The initial delivery is thought to be Sheets 1 to 250 making a total of 3,000 stamps being issued on horizontal laid paper with base inscription reading One Penny each - One Shilling per Sheet. - the change from Each to each being made at preparation stage due Victorians being fussy about incorrect grammar. Only three imperforate sheets (numbered 256,257,258) are currently known with the original "Each" setting, and each showing differing adjustments to the lining up of the two units. Morley in 1910 reported the existence of these stamps on vertical laid paper but both Britnor (1965) and Robson Lowe (1990) were unable to confirm their existance in their handbooks. Sheets 251 to 260 are therefore printer’s unissued preparation sheets. The "Each" error was not noticed by philatelists until 2001 (135 years later!). £1500 |
;) ;) | Mail to the "U.S.S. Michigan" (Fenian Raids/Canada), MALTA postal history 1872 cover marked "Via Italy & Germany" to a U.S. Naval Lieutenant on the U.S.S. Michigan, Erie, Pennsylvania with GB QV 1d, 3d, 6d pmk'd Malta "A25" duplex dated B/NO 18 72 showing London Paid (NO 26) but without arrival backstamps, small corner fault. U.S.S. Michigan was the first iron-hulled ship in the U.S. Navy and was built in response to the British Government arming two steamers in response to the Canadian rebellion in the late 1830's and operated on the Great Lakes out of Erie, Pennsylvania. Irish immigrants in the Fenian Brotherhood, after the American Civil War, saw their opportunity to attack the British Empire at their weakest point on the borders with Canada, and seize a sufficient portion of Canada to form a belligerent government recognised by the United States. In early June 1866, 850 Fenians led by Col. John O'Neill crossed the Niagara River. Battles with Canadian Volunteer Forces and British regiments were fought at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, and with some 2,000 to 3,000 re-inforcements unable to cross from Buffalo the raid was effectively over. In 1866 the 'Michigan' intercepted and interned the army of the Fenian Brotherhood as it returned from its invasion of Canada near Buffalo (see pages 82-83 of enclosed book). £625 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | Proofed/unrecorded ERRONEOUSLY APPLIED unique TRINCOMALEE/RETURNED FOR POSTAGE,CEYLON postal history 1845 wrapper from C. Brun fils, Port Louis pmk'd red MAURITIUS POST OFFICE d/ring dated NO 05 1845 marked "via Ceylon" to Veillon Freres, Bordeaux, France with "Paid 1/8" in dark black ink most unusually landed on Ceylon's north east coast (instead of the southern port of Galle) showing prepared for application TRINCOMALEE/RETURNED FOR POSTAGE datestamp for NO 22 1845 erroneously applied, crossed through, and TRINCOMALEE/STEAMER LETTER added for the next day in the same coloured ink. Carried via ALEXANDRIA (JA 7 1846) with 25mm chisels slits and large part PURIFIE AU LAZERET/MALTE handstamp added showing red PAQ. ANG. MARSEILLES (16 JANV 46) on address panel and Bordeaux (10 JANV 46) arrival backstamp with 96 decimes to be collected. Exhibition item collecting cancellations from five different countries. Similar RETURNED FOR POSTAGE datestamps were proofed for other Ceylon towns but none are known used. This remarkable example only exists due being wrongly applied. £7250 |
;) ;) | GREAT BRITAIN to CAPE OF GOOD HOPE re-directed ORANGE FREE STATE and BASUTOLAND postal history 1878 cover from sender "M. Braithwaite 9.18.78" to Isaac Shorp, care of J.C. Srine, Cape Town, South Africa with GB QV 6d Plate 15 pmk'd Hastings duplex dated C/SP 19 78 arriving Cape Town OC 14 78, re-directed with CGH 4d blue pmk'd Cape Town OC 17 78 to c/o Post Office Bloemfontein, Orange Free State with purplish-black OCT 23 1878 arrival d/ring prior marked in manuscript "Aliwal North" with ALIWAL NORTH NO 2 1878 arrival dbl-arc prior final re-addressing c/o Rev. A. Mabille, Morijah, no backstamps. Exhibition item for four different countries. £1625 |